Catching/Herding Someone Else's Escaped Goats!?

[Gabby]

I just joined this site yesterday and have a herd-related emergency today, what luck!

One of my best friends is an elderly man who lives on a farm with hogs, turkeys, chickens, and goats. He's currently in the hospital and has been for over two weeks now, and I assumed someone was taking care of his house. I drove out to see if I could find anyone to ask about how he's doing, but when I got there, his animals were everywhere! His turkeys and chickens are out of their building and running amok, his pigs are nowhere to be seen, his dog's running free, and most importantly, his goats are running around in a herd in the neighbor's field!

I'm not going to try looking for the hogs just yet and I think I can catch the feathery pets on my own, but my major concern is the goats. They're not very well socialized since he's the only one to ever spend time with them (I've actually never been around his animals before!) so I can't get them to come to me! I spent 20 minutes following them around the field calling them and trying to treat them like they were dogs, but that obviously did not work! Does anyone have any ideas? Is it possible to round them back up and herd them into the barn, or do I have to accept Mr. Bob's goats are gone for good? It's worth noting he has a great Pyrenees that followed me around and watched the goats, but was no help when it came to catching them. I'm open to carrying around food, ringing a bell, anything at all that you think would work! I've never worked with goats in my life so this is a first for me.

 

[TAH]

I assume the guy would have chicken feed and goat feed so all you need is to get a bucket and scoop up and they'll be running.

Make sure the goats don't get chicken feed, it can kill them.

When you get out there shake the feed then let the goats try some then take it away and have them follow you all the way to the barn, dump the feed in there pen then shut that gate.

BTW sorry your friend is in the hospital .
Hope he has a quick recovery!

 

[babsbag]

UGH!!! If you can get some grain try putting it in a bucket and shake it. Usually that will get their attention if they are use to being fed grain and they will follow you. (mine are not grain fed and they ignore grain in a pan) Also put grain in the feeders in the barn where you want them. If they have food in the field they are in it will be harder as they aren't hungry. It is also possible that they are going back to the barn at night, mine sure would so I would make an evening trip back to his place if you don't get them today. This is when a good Border Collie is worth its weight in gold, but the Pyr might take offense to a dog chasing his goats, and no, Pyrs don't herd, AT ALL, totally against there instincts to chase a goat.

They are also going to wherever the water is, eventually at least.

You are very nice to try and help and the hogs are probably long gone. Do you think that no one has been showing up to care for them?

 

[AClark]

I'll 2nd and 3rd some feed in a bucket and go shake it. If they pay you attention, lure them back where they belong. But, I feed mine pellets and shake the bucket when I do so they know it means feeding time and come running.

Also, maybe try to double check that the goats and all weren't turned out intentionally since he's ill and away from home, might be a good bet the neighbor let them be turned out to their pasture while he's unable to care for them.

I'd get some help with the hogs, they can be hard to catch, and can hurt you. Maybe call up to the hospital and see if they won't patch you through to your buddys room so you can ask and find out what's going on - just let him know you'll be happy to take care of it for him so he's not stressed, and you just need to know what's going on.

 

[Gabby]

Hello all! Thank you for the grain ideas! I was going to do that but felt weird going into his barn because I felt like I was trespassing! (But I was okay with jumping his fences to chase his goats, looking in the pens, and petting his dog? )

As for someone else taking care of the animals....It's hard to say. My friend actually a 92 year old man with no children of his own, no wife, and no nieces or nephews in this state! I've called all of the hospitals in our area and none of them have him, so I'm guessing he got transferred to a larger facility. I have no way of getting in contact with his family because I don't personally know them, I just usually visited him at his shop and spent time with him there. I will indeed go back and try the grain idea! As for the hogs....I'm personally not a pig person, not good at tracking, and like AClark said, I've heard of people getting hurt by hogs and I'm definitely much smaller than said people!

 

[AClark]

I honestly doubt he'll mind you getting in the barn with the good intentions you have. If he doesn't have anyone looking out for them, then he's probably already stressed over it on top of being sick. I'd try calling around to the larger city hospitals and inquiring if they have him as a patient - they can't tell you how he's doing but if he's alert you can at least leave a message for him to make sure everything is ok and let him know things are taken care of. What about neighbors? Any close by that might know him?
Leave a note on his door in case someone is coming by and ask them to contact you maybe? I don't imagine anyone is checking things out if all the critters are escaped though.

As for the hogs, yeah I'd get help, and here's something I learned awhile back trying to help a friend catch a hog - you can rope them! Yeah, if they aren't into you getting close to them or acting shady, try roping a back leg and you can gently drag them along to where you want them. The neck doesn't work very good, as they don't have a "neck" and head and shoulders are kind of a solid piece, so they can slip your rope - nothing like a cow, and it was pretty comical having me rope the hog, but it did work.

 

[Gabby]

Thank you to everyone who replied! I went back twice yesterday with a bucket of dried corn (it was all I could find in his barn that wasn't chicken feed) and walked around shaking it, but the goats were nowhere to be seen. I walked all over the fields for about 40 minutes each time and couldn't find a single goat! I went to town hall where I was originally told my friend was in the hospital and told the woman there about it, so she called his brother and his brother is supposedly going to "fix" it, whatever that means! I'll be going back tomorrow to check on everything, poor animals!

 

[Latestarter]

What a shame for the old man. I hope he recovers and is able to come back to his home. I commend you on all that you've done to try and help him without his even knowing. You have gone above and beyond! What a wonderful person you are! I hope his brother will be able to round up all the animals and get things all buttoned up at the farm. Have you heard anything more about the old man's status?

 

[Bruce]

Its nice that the people at Town Hall know his brother and how to contact him. Perhaps you and he can communicate.